Abstract
Although extensive evidence in the literature indicates that Latine youth and families report mental health disparities, treatment underutilization, and poor retention, culturally informed treatment options are limited and are not well understood. Disentangling the key mechanisms of treatments that seek to incorporate cultural material into interventions is essential to better understand how they work and for which patients they may be most effective. The purpose of this study was to explore plausible mechanisms of change in a culturally informed evidence-based treatment, Culturally Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment (CIFFTA) and to evaluate its effectiveness when implemented in a real-world setting. This dissertation sought to evaluate treatment outcomes, explore whether family functioning treatment changes were associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms treatment outcomes, and assess the relationship between caregiver acculturation and treatment outcomes when a culturally informed treatment was implemented in a real-world setting. Data from a five-year parent study were analyzed. This study utilized a series of Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests and binary logistic regressions. Results indicated improvements in youth internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety symptoms) and family functioning (family conflict and caregiver-adolescent communication) at treatment completion compared to baseline. Treatment changes in family functioning were not found to be related to treatment changes in adolescent internalizing symptoms and caregiver acculturation was not found to be related to treatment changes. Attendance rates of Latine families participating in CIFFTA treatment were high (M = 16.39) and did not differ based on caregiver acculturation. Implications for practice are discussed and recommendations for future research on culturally informed family-based treatments, acculturation, and plausible mechanisms of change are provided.